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More voices on Ukraine

Sat., March 29, 2014

The present approach to the Ukrainian crisis can only lead to further violence and the breakup of that country. A study of Switzerland, which was faced with a similar difficult position in the 19th century may lead to a positive solution.

Both of these countries have three ethnic groups and languages: German, French and Italian in Switzerland; Russian, Ukrainian and Tartar in Ukraine. Both of these countries have powerful and antagonistic bordering countries: Switzerland with Germany versus France; Ukraine with Russia versus Western Europe.

In 1914, the predominant German ethnic group could have actively supported Germany at the expense of the other two minorities. Had it done so there would have been opposition and discounted with the French and Italian minorities to such an extent that Switzerland would no longer be a unified country. But, the Swiss decided to be neutral and treat the belligerents equally. Switzerland remained free and united and its neutrality respected by all belligerent.

Ukraine needs to follow the same course of action. The western Ukrainians favour rapprochement with Western Europe at the expense of Russia. The eastern Ukrainians, the majority who are of Russian descent and language, favour cooperation with Russia. The only course of action for Ukraine to remained united is to be absolutely neutral and respect its very ethnic population.

Therefore, if a free, united and independent Ukraine is desired, then the Western powers must cooperate and convince Russia to achieve this goat. Political leaders like Mr. Harper must leave their narrow political and commercial views for the good of all – statesmanship displayed by the like of Lester Person is what is required.

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Michel Perreten, SudburyYour report on the G7 meeting quotes Stephen Harper saying, “I’m not surprised … the kind of cavalier reaction of Putin is to strut everywhere and shrug off any response. That’s just how he handles these things.” If you replace the name Putin with Harper in that quote, it could be a report on Question Period any time during the last year.

If Ukrainians are serious about creating a country, the current takeover of Crimea by Russia should act as a magnetic force from the centre and a repulsive force from the edges of Ukraine’s remaining territory to consolidate what is left of Ukraine for all its people — Russian speaking above all.

Even so, however, by itself this is not enough: Ukraine, as constituted, is too dependant economically on Russia and will not survive unless it receives help from the West. The whole crisis was really caused by the EU when they offered Greek-like straightjacket to the Ukraine as condition for EU association. The present sentiment of self centered greed and stinginess of the capitalist West may very well put the future of Ukraine at risk.

Ukraine can only survive if the West, in this case the avaricious duo of USA and Germany, concentrate on helping the Ukraine as opposed to trying to hurt Russia.

Sanctions against Russia should be threatened but sparingly used. freezing the assets of Russian Oligarchs will likely prove counter-productive. Such sanctions may actually force the oligarchs’ return to Russia with their money, and thus strengthen Russia; besides the English and Swiss would resist such measures. Any sanctions should be creative and targeted; George Soros advises that any major sanctions should only be used as a deterrent. Soros also says that The discouragement of investments in and loans to Russia form the West would work quite well.

The US, and above all in this case, Germany should suppress their instinct of self-interest and avarice and supply Ukraine with organizational, technological, management expertise, access to markets, and a shock and awe size financial injection. Certainly not just the meager intervention of the IMF is putting together! Just saving Ukraine from collapse would be like setting it up like a bowling pin set to be knocked down by the first well aimed ball. It should be like Some plan that would make the Marshall Plan look like it having come from a peggy bank. Much like the air lift into Berlin in 1948, the assistance package should say : WE MEAN BUSINESS AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING! But not force! With such generous gesture the Ukrainians at large could be, all the while, coaxed into improving the business climate and crusading against their culture of corruption, and in favour of respect for the rule of law. such things can be achieved after the existantial crises this Nation has had.

Such massive financial injection could also prove to be the force that would break the austerity trap that Europe has constructed for itself and actually create expansion. I know that this is like a day dream in technicolour, but eh, the Marshall Plan had just such effect! Much like the injection of water lifts the heaviest of ships in a lock, helping Ukraine financally may very well lift Europe out of its great recession.

Punishments back and forth are negatives that are not helpful!

Tony Morra, MississaugaWhy is Stephen Harper in the Ukraine? Why is the Crimea any different from Serbia, Croatia or the Czech Republic? Where is the right to self-determination? Was there not a referendum?

Why is our Prime Minister supporting a government that came to power by the bullet rather than the ballot? Why is the Western media using words like “Invasion” and “Annexation”; when Russia had a military presence there for years?

Are we reverting to the failed Cold War mentality for the benefit of the Military Industrial Complex or Perhaps some Geo-Political posturing?

Stephen Harper is One who leans upon his own misunderstanding, who silences our scientists for partisan and political purposes, and unconstitutionally can’t even get Marc Nadon elected to country’s court on his own turf! This is incomprehensible!

He’s sowing the seeds of his own destruction ... and Ours!

Gavin Francisco, TorontoWhat does it take to make a genocide?

1. Ignorance and hatred.

2. Two or more opposing factions.

3. International dithering and dickering on how to respond.

4. Apathy.

One wonders how high the Central African Republic on our government’s pecking order.

Canada has been known for its peacekeeping activities over the years, yet our government seems to demur at the possibility of sending peacekeeping troops into the region.

No doubt, Security Council dithering is contributing to inaction, but Canada needs to follow the example of France and the African Union and send peacekeeping troops to stop another Rwanda.

The situation in Ukraine is indeed serious and I applaud our government for standing by the legitimate Ukrainian government. If Russia made further incursions into Ukraine I have no doubt that Canada would send in peacekeepers without delay.

I would hate to think that our response would due to the fact that Ukrainians are white and that our lack of response to the killing in the Central African Republic is because the people there are black — or is it because of a general malaise. Oh well, it’s Africa so what can you expect?

I am asking Canadians to tell our government to send in peacekeepers and don’t let another Rwanda happen.

Patricia Taviss, Mississauga

Canada should shelter Tatars and Ukrainians, Opinion March 20

I completely agree with Haroon Siddiqui’s article. “The West must refer Russia to the world court for violating Ukrainian sovereignty. It must impose serious economic sanctions of the kind slapped on Iran. Freeze Russia’s $500-billion foreign reserves. Cut off Russia from international banking. Ban investments in Russia. Reduce Russian oil and gas imports.”

I wish Haroon Siddiqui was the president of United States. He truly sees the situation in Ukraine. Obama gave Russia his “red line” warnings but Putin paid no heed just as was written.

Putin got away with the invasion in Crimea, got away with the staged referendum. Now, to Putin, Obama is just a puppet with empty words.

What I can see is that at the end of Putin’s game Obama has to give up and pat Putin’s shoulder and say you win.

I agree with Haroon Siddiqui because I had been through the Vietnamese war in the South Vietnamese army from 1969 to the end of the war in 1975 and I was living under the Viet Cong’s control until I escaped from Vietnam in 1979. I had seen the Viet Cong propaganda in using people for false messages to show the world, lie and denied any cruel action, kidnap, assassinating and killing people who were against them just like what Putin is doing now.

Four years ago, in October 2010, Canada’s Prime Minister was the first Western leader to visit Ukraine after the election of President Victor Yanukovych. On March 22, 2014, Stephen Harper again was the first head of state to be in Kyiv, this time, to meet with the leaders of a new government appointed by the Ukrainian parliament after Yanukovych suddenly fled the country and left a trail of violence against peaceful protestors.

During his first visit, Harper focused attention on the growing authoritarianism by the Yanukovych regime and the need for the world to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine. At the time, Europe and the US were preoccupied with their own domestic economic problems and international financial matters and, claiming Ukraine ‘fatigue’, had lost interest in the country.

Nonetheless, during that visit Prime Minister Harper brought attention to the alarming erosion of basic human rights and civil liberties including freedom of the press and assembly. He also brought attention to the intimidation and repressions directed against civic efforts to overcome the totalitarian past and to restore historical memories. It is precisely these legacy issues that persist and are at the core of Putin’s justification for invading Ukraine – dredging up Soviet-style propaganda about saving Russian language speakers from an alleged resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism, even at the helm of the new Ukrainian government.

Prior to meeting up with Prime Minister Harper at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv last Saturday, we spent over a week in the country. We met with the new government officials in Kyiv: Minister of Education, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Minister of the Interior, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Secretary of the National Defence and Security Council, members of Parliament, including Chairman of the Committee on Security and Defence, as well as the Canadian and US Ambassadors. We also met with civic representatives of the “Maidan” movement and many national and local civil society NGOs. We then went to several cities in eastern provinces, including Sumy, Konotop, Kharkiv and Poltava. Traveling by car, we stopped often to speak with locals and with recently deployed military units at bridges and other strategic defence positions.

What was striking was that on the surface, all appearances were of a normal, peaceful and stable situation. It seemed that no one was preparing for a disruption of their daily routines. No one was packing to leave the area, hording supplies, or making preparations for an emergency situation. Also, as quickly as they appeared, pro-Russia rallies have virtually stopped. Similarly, there were few signs of pro-Kyiv rallies. Local media was focused on the Crimea situation, reaction of the West, and speculation on what Putin may try next.

There was a palpable sense of disconnect between the situation on the ground and the constant propaganda by broadcast media from Russia. Other than this, the only other sign out of the norm was the outpouring of civilian support for the few small military units we encountered in the countryside, with locals bringing food, clothing and other supplies for the cash strapped army. Neither city and provincial officials nor NGOs and average citizens, young and old, expressed fear of right-wing radicals, or a fascist government. Only when asked, did they address the topic, and then with irony and indignation. It was evident that the local population was used to the continuous Russian disinformation campaign and was highly cynical of it.

This is not to say that real threats don’t exist. While we did not witness any, provocations are taking place almost on a daily basis. Invariably they involve “titushky”, Russian agent-provocateurs engaging in shootings and beatings of protesters, and provoking violent responses from normally peaceful protesters. However, these infrequent incidents involving small numbers of participants on both sides do include deaths and serious injuries, and are treated with utmost attention and concern by the authorities in Kyiv. Special police units of the Interior Ministry and the Alfa Force of the SBU are actively engaged in disrupting acts of sedition and other subversive violent actions, including arrests of Russian titushky and their homegrown supporters.

There is serious concern that these incidents of provocations will be used as an excuse by Russia to invade mainland Ukraine with its military forces. Others felt that Russia’s sudden seizure of Crimea and even more abrupt referendum and annexation was a sign of weakness and indicated that Putin wanted to grab what he could before the Ukrainian government entered into new binding relations with the West. Whatever the case, if Russia were to intervene, many said that the people in the area will resist and fight. While some spoke of patriotism and defending the nation’s sovereignty and independence, most expressed alarm that Russia is sowing discord and destabilizing the situation. Their patriotism is motivated by a desire to safeguard their way of life and homeland, not unlike that of the late 1920s when eastern Ukraine was aflame with local uprisings resisting collectivization: Stalin’s seizure of farmers’ land and the imposition of a Soviet style serf system over the rural population. That resistance was ultimately put down by Stalin’s resort to the artificially imposed Famine-Genocide of 1932-33. And, the West not only shamefully stood by, but even expanded friendly relations with Stalin’s genocidal regime.

In trying to explain their feelings to us, we often heard from locals a rhetorical question: What would you do if a neighbour broke into your house and violated your family and property? Ukrainian citizens in the east of the country, whether they are ethnic Ukrainians or Russians, Christians, Muslims or Jews, do not look upon Putin as their sovereign master or protector of their rights and freedoms. On the contrary, they are alarmed and insulted that the leader of a neighbouring country, fraternal or otherwise, would countenance imposing his will by force. For them this is an intolerable and unwelcome affront to their dignity, personal freedom, and threat to their land and property.

Four years ago in Kyiv, Prime Minister Harper called on Canada’s allies to rouse themselves and recognize what a roll-back of basic rights and freedoms would mean for Ukrainians and for peace and stability in Europe and beyond. This time, his call to Canada’s allies for a unified response has gained wide support, because this time the West has been awakened, shaken to the core and beginning to unite to help Ukrainians resist Putin’s seizure of their homeland.

Ihor Kozak is Chair of the Committee on International Relations at the National Executive of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC). He is a retired officer of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Borys Potapenko is Vice President of the International Council in Support of Ukraine (ICSU) and Executive Director of the LUC.

Mr. Kozak and Mr. Potapenko were in Ukraine on behalf of the ICSU, LUC and Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and in consultation with the Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus.

The one percent is not being discussed much in the newspapers around the world. The problem of Russian aggression is an open fact, and our Prime Minister is taking a leading role in trying to reverse this problem, however the most obvious solution is to simply sanction the aggressor.

Why has he not done so? Perhaps it is time for the little people of the world to speak up and say despite the fact that someone is a billionaire he or she can be disciplined. Corporations are not only running the world but running our politicians as well.

If Mr. Harper truly wanted to stop Mr. Putin and business interest would allow him, the aggression would end tomorrow.

John Oliver, Port Perry

United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan denounce Russia’s action against Ukraine as a “clear violation of international law.” This declaration against a background of over a million people dead in Iraq, hundreds of thousands dead in Afghanistan , Syria, Libya, (to name only a few countries in turmoil); all a “clear violation of international law.”

The righteous war mongerers who should be before the international courts tribunal for mass murder, torture, fraud and theft have the gall to issue vitriol against a country that is forced by these same gentlemen to safeguard its national security.

The media is whitewashing the facts, and all we get is the deceit of the likes of Cameron, Harper, Obama, and Baird. Surely you can do much better than that!

Frank Arturi, Toronto

I just want to make sure Stephen Harper was correctly quoted in this article - Tim Harper quoted - “There’s a lot said about the mentality in that,” Harper said, “that because something is far away, you have no concern about people’s rights, or their lives or the basic principles of international law. But somehow if you are right beside them you have the right to determine all these things without any reference to the facts or the principles or to agreements of the world community.”

Perhaps the quote should have read - because something is near, you have no concern about people’s right, or their lives or the basic principles of international and local law, and that if you are right beside them you have the sole right to determine all these things without any parliamentary input or reference to the facts or the principles or to agreements of the world community or the citizens you represent.”

B. Cleary, North York

Stephen Harper’s hardline rhetoric in Europe may play well to the Ukrainian audience back home, but many other Canadians hear only the din of his hypocrisy.

He’s upset about Putin’s travel ban on Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. “What has he done? Is it a crime to be Ukrainian?” Harper asked. “They sanctioned a man for the sole reason that he is Ukrainian. What does that tell you about the mentality of that government?”

This from a man whose own government routinely refuses entry to the family and friends of Canadian residents who want to come here to be reunited with their loved ones, attend weddings or funerals, or help sick and dying relatives. These visa applicants’ only crime is to be Indian, Colombian, Pakistani, Chinese, or some other nationality on a very long list.

Harper also bristled when told that Canada should butt out of the Crimean debate because it’s too far away from Ukraine. “There’s a lot said about the mentality in that,” Harper said, “that because something is far away, you have no concern about people’s rights, or their lives or the basic principles of international law.

Apparently such a cavalier approach to people’s rights is to be reserved for your own citizens, judging by his government’s efforts to trample on our constitution, voting process and parliamentary traditions.

If Harper would practise at home the values he preaches abroad, Canada might return to being a country worthy of our pride rather than the profound shame many of us feel now.

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